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Monday, August 29, 2016

Former Prime
Minister Stephen Harper, defeated in last October’s election, has resigned
after two decades in politics.

Harper quit as aMember
of Parliament for Calgary in a statement and on video on Friday.

After his election
defeat to Justin Trudeau and the Liberals, Harper left his position as
Conservative party leader but remained in Parliament.

He led the
Conservatives to a minority government, becoming prime minister in the 2006
election and again in 2008 before winning his first majority in 2011.

“On seven
occasions, I have been deeply humbled by your trust and support, time and
again,” Harper said of his election victories.

As he leaves
politics for a career as an international issues consultant, Harper said among
his “proudest accomplishments” were guiding the economy through the 2008
recession and the tough-on-crime agenda.

Interim
Conservative leader Rona Ambrose also noted his foreign policy, including
support for Israel and opposition to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Monday, August 22, 2016

The Canadian
government is looking at toughening national security measures after police
narrowly thwarted a terrorist attack.

Of concern are
peace bonds such as the one issued to Aaron Driver, 24, who was on his way to
launch a bomb attack when Mountie sharpshooters shot and killed him in a taxi
outside his home in Strathroy, Ontario.

Public Safety Minister
Ralph Goodale said there are “limitations” and the government is looking at having
terrorist sympathizers undergo mandatory de-radicalization counseling.

The government is also
spending $35 million to establish a center for countering violent extremism.

Driver was under a
court-ordered bond with strict conditions to limit his movements, travel,
internet communications and cell phone use after his arrest last year.

Even so, he was able to acquire bomb-making
materials, make a “martyrdom video” and set out to blow up a device to cause mass
casualties in an unnamed urban area.

His plans were
foiled when the FBI advised the Mounties about the video and they were able to
identify and confront him as he left the house.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

FBI and Canadian
police worked together in a “race against time” to thwart a terrorist attack just
before it was about to happen.

It all started with
an early-morning tip from the FBI about a potential suicide bomber planning an
attack somewhere in Canada.

The end came three
hours later when police identified the suspect and nabbed him in a taxi leaving
his home in small-town Strathroy, Ontario, west of Toronto.

In the ensuing
scuffle, a bomb was detonated in the taxi, injuring the driver, and the
assailant – Aaron Driver, 24, a known terrorist sympathizer – was dead.

The police were
acting on a tip of a “martyrdom video,” showing a black-hooded and masked man
warning that he was planning to detonate an explosive device in an urban center
during the morning or afternoon rush hour, said Mountie deputy commissioner
Mike Cabana.

The angry video
threat included a Muslim prayer in Arabic and warning of immediate retaliation
for Canada’s participation in the “war on Islam.”

The challenge for
the authorities was to try to identify the man in the video and find him
quickly, which they did, Cabana said.

Driver had been
under a court order not to associate with any terrorist organizations and other
restrictions after his arrest last year when he praised Islamist terrorist
activities and the 2014 attack on Canada’s Parliament.

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Fewer Canadian
women with children are in the workforce as compared with those in many other
countries, a government study shows.

Women’s groups,
including the Facebook site TorontoMummies, call it a “crisis” as mothers cope
with raising children and finding available and affordable daycare that can
cost $1,000 and more a month in Toronto.

The rate of women
between 25 and 54 with children younger than 15 working was 75 percent, based
on 2013 statistics, said an internal federal government analysis obtained by
the Canadian Press news service.

This places Canada
ninth among member countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development.

The document was
prepared after last fall’s election when the now-governing Liberal party said
it would draft a national framework on early learning and child care.

The study said the
job participation rate for women with young children involved factors such as
education, family income and taxes, job availability, child benefits and the
availability of affordable child care.